Pitt BlatherThe rantings and commentary on Pitt football and basketball ... and anything else from a distracted mind2015-03-31T14:42:15Zhttp://www.pittblather.com/feed/atom/WordPressJustinhttp://www.pittblather.com/?p=200022015-03-31T14:42:15Z2015-03-31T14:42:15ZThe defensive scheme that Narduzzi and Conklin will run is well known and analyzed. To oversimplify, it’s a 4-3 base with Quarters coverage that adapts to what the offense presents them (I have a long post on the defense that I haven’t been happy with that’s been in the works for over a month). The offense however, is a bit of an enigma. Jim Chaney left Arkansas due to the disagreement with Brett Bielema as to what direction the offense should go in. It is important for the head coach and coordinator to be on the same page and that disparity is why Chaney came to Pitt. This means what Chaney did at Arkansas isn’t necessarily what he’ll do here. At Arkansas, there were plenty of 2 TE sets and power runs. However, Chaney also has a long history with the spread offense.

Based off of what has been stated publicly, what can we expect Chaney’s offense to look like?

Let’s start with the obvious: Tyler Boyd and James Conner will see the ball a lot. The question is HOW they will get the ball. The first difference is that James Conner will see the field more on third down:

Chaney said he plans to give Conner more opportunities in the passing game.

“James Conner has the ability to do whatever James Conner wants to do,” Chaney said. “I look for him to be a big part of our passing game.” Conner has caught eight passes in two seasons. He caught two for 50 yards in the scrimmage Saturday.

Previously, Conner came out of the game on passing downs, with former coach Paul Chryst not wanting to burden him with pass protection. “I think that was one of Paul’s philosophies,” Chaney said. “Personally, it’s not one of mine.

“I think James has the ability to be a good pass protector. My goodness, he’s big, and he’s physical. I think he can do that and stay on the field more regularly on third down.” Such thinking might avoid situations such as the second overtime of the Duke loss when Conner never touched the ball.

As Jerry points out in the article, that could prevent scenarios like the Duke game where Conner was off the field in overtime. In my opinion, it could also mean fewer touches. That may seem counter-intuitive, but if Conner is on the field for all three downs, he’ll be on the field more often when he doesn’t touch the ball. This takes away a little bit of predictability of the Paul Chryst scheme where it was a virtual lock to be a passing play when Rachid Ibrahim came onto the field. I doubt Conner will be on the field even more often than last year, so it likely means fewer touches with the same amount of time on the field. I view this as a net positive. Fewer touches for Conner keeps him fresher and it’ll enable someone like Chris James to step up and take a larger role.

I talked to Coach Chaney about the offense and what they want to do, and he said they’re going to be a pro-style offense but he said he wants to adapt to some run-and-gun stuff and some reads in the future,” MacVittie said. “I’ve never played in a pro-style but I’m curious to try it and I feel like I’m a good fit for that. I feel pretty confident about the plays and concepts from what I saw in the practice and in the quarterbacks meeting when I sat in.

I’ve also heard rumors of the offense using a lot of the pistol formation, which syncs up with Chaney’s spread offense history. However, I highly doubt anything close to the modern spread will be used. The offensive lineman recruiting seems similar to under Chryst (such as recent commit Brandon Ford, who was also offered by Chryst) which doesn’t sync up with lighter, more mobile OL often needed for a spread offense. What I read here is more up-tempo, more lineup versatility (as evidenced by Chaney’s refusal to commit to FB use), and more use of option-type plays.

Chaney likely saw the same thing most people saw: the offense improved as the season went on and one element of that was Voytik running the read-option. The reason I believe that worked is it let Voytik use his legs AND think less. The advantage of option plays is that the QB will only have to make one or two reads. Compare that to a standard pro-offense where a QB drops back and has to make more than two reads quite often. For example, in a read-option, the QB only has to read one unblocked pass rusher to determine if he keeps or hands off the ball. All of this leads me to the conclusion that I expect Chaney to use a lot of “packaged plays.”

Chris B. Brown describes packaged plays as “combining running and passing concepts — meaning the offensive line typically blocked a run play while receivers ran pass routes or screens, leaving the quarterback to decide whether to hand off or throw it out wide — often at a no-huddle pace.” For example, the exact same play call could be an eight yard run from a RB, a QB run for 13 yards, or even a pass to two different receivers. This will all be based off of one or two reads after the snap typically. Unfortunately if you click the article, you’ll realize the example used was Ole Miss against Pitt in the Compass Bowl on their second quarter touchdown drive. On that drive Ole Miss called the exact same play five times and each play had a different result. Watch the video, then imagine Vince Sanders of Ole Miss (#10, caught two passes and the touchdown) is Tyler Boyd.

Here’s how these plays were setup for the touchdown:

The quarterback’s job was to first determine if the defense had enough defenders near the line to stop the run. If not, he read the read-option play, handing it off or keeping it himself. If the defense did have enough defenders inside, he either threw the screen pass or the quick hitch to his left. Ole Miss combined a very simple play concept with an extremely fast version of the no-huddle, and, while it is the defense that dictated whether the statisticians counted it as a run or pass, the offense got what it wanted — a touchdown.

Take note of what the QB had to do: count the amount of players inside and based off of that, he had one read after the snap. If the defense was setup to prevent a run, he had two passing options. If they weren’t, he had two running options, keep or hand-off based on the unblocked pass rusher as mentioned above. It’s not complex at all, but when the no-huddle is going and the defense is on its heels, the offense can move the ball in chunks quickly. It enables the offense to run a play more suited to what the defense is giving them without forcing the QB to call an audible. By running the no-huddle, the QB can take his time to read what the defense is doing pre-snap if necessary because there’s plenty of time left on the play clock.

I’m not saying the entire offense will be packaged plays. What I’m gathering from various sources is an offense that will have variety. Chryst’s offense was almost always a FB and TE or two TEs. Three WR sets were deployed only due to necessity on third and long. That won’t happen under Chaney. I expect to see three WRs, pistol, read-option, packaged plays, and your standard power runs. If Chaney can institute all of these elements, the variety will keep defenses on their toes and the offense could be even better than it was in the second half of 2014.

]]>36Reedhttp://www.pittblather.com/?p=199702015-03-30T13:39:41Z2015-03-30T13:25:41ZA common theme among PITT fans when discussing the football program, at least over the last two years, has been our defense and how poorly it has played. There really can be no denying that opinion, especially with the taste of last season’s bowl game and Houston’s Sherman to PITT’s Georgia rampage. This is so very obvious it wouldn’t even be worthy of any long discussion save for one fact.

PITT hired one of the best defensive minds in college ball when they pried Pat Narduzzi from his Michigan State Defensive Coordinator position. His defenses were in the Top 25 in many major categories whereas we had one, our pass defense which is mind-blowing considering the last two quarters of our season last year:

TEAM

Total

Rush

Pass

Pass Eff.

Scoring

3rd Down

1st Down

INTs

TDs

Sacks

MSU

8th

1st

60th

21st

22nd 21.5 ppg

8th

8th

10th

29th

8th

PITT

33rd

55th

24th

43rd

55th 26.3 ppg

40th

37th

82nd

None

102nd

Yea us!! We beat them in passing defense!! But that was it. The table above and the graphic and convincing numerical rank superiority that MSU had over PITT is the reason we fans are chomping at the bit to see Narduzzi and Conklin’s defense out on the field of play.

So to answer the question of the title I believe yes, it was as bad as we believed it to be in our guts. Of course they played well in some games and made some nice plays here and there but overall we were what we looked like – bad.

Looking at the differences above begs the Big Question: Will our defense get better on the shoulders of the defensive coaching staff and the HC himself alone? Remember that we’ll have, in essence, the same players on the roster this season as last save one or two talented true FR like DB Jordan Whitehead, so this staff basically has to wring the talent needed for bettering the defense by their teaching, coaching and game planning alone. They have to do all that with the same players who put up such a poor defense as last year; possible or not possible, that is the question. Whether tis nobler to suffer ….

We love to point to MSU’s stout defenses in recent years and slobber over our beers wanting that same thing to happen here as soon as possible. But let’s don’t forget that by that point Narduzzi had about five years of every defensive player being the kids he wanted to recruit. He does not have that luxury at PITT in 2015.

The fact that Narduzzi and Conklin have been saying 80-90% of our defense is going to be stopping the run just doesn’t make a whole bunch of sense when at the same time they were giving up 603 yards passing in the bowl game. I hope they tailor the D a bit to fit personnel rather than trying to fit personnel into a concrete system.

Fall camp will be fun to watch as always but even more due to all the new things going on – especially on the defense side.

OTHER NOTES:

The P-G’s Red Shirt Diaries, Sam Werner’s PITT football blog, returned after a ten day hiatus. In this morning’s edition Werner captured some items of interest that we hadn’t seen from other writers in attendance at Saturday’s scrimmage. We have had some comments on here asking about the role FB Jaymar Parrish will fill under the new OC’s direction. Here is what Cheney said in response to that question.

“Chaney was also asked about the role of a fullback in his offense, which will operate out of a shotgun or pistol more than a traditional pro-style offense. But that doesn’t mean there’s not a role for a fullback. “To use a fullback, you better have an excellent one,” Chaney said. “Have a good fullback, you better question if you’re going to use him or not. You need an excellent one.”

Which begs the question of whether this new staff was serious when they said they weren’t going to watch any film of PITT’s games? Parrish was one of the best blocking FBs in the nation last season and a big part of the nationally ranked running game. Parrish doesn’t generate much offense, only 25 yards receiving and none rushing. Earlier we were told that this season’s offense was going to be 60% – 75% either in the Shotgun or in the Pistol (a few steps closer to the Center). In essence we won’t see as much of the QB being under the center “pro style” offensive formations.

That will cut out some of Parrish’s role but let’s hope we see him anytime we are within ten yards of the goal line.

Werner also expounds on the movement in the LB corps and refers way back to when Caprara jumped Thomas for a few days.

- At linebacker, Mike Caprara was working with the first team at the “Money” (weak side) position, ahead of Bam Bradley. You may remember that two years ago, Caprara moved ahead of Todd Thomas during training camp, prompting Thomas to briefly quit the team before coming back and having a productive season. We’ll see how Bradley reacts to the demotion, but it could be a motivating factor for him as we move forward with spring practices.

The staff must like Conner’s blocking skills this camp because they have had to get better for Cheney to entertain Conner being a three down back. I’m a bit wary of this because quite honestly we are not going to be throwing many 3rd down passes to the RBs out of the backfield when we have Boyd and two good TE for short yardage plays. We’ll be using the RB mostly as a blocking back in that situation and have Ibrahim, who did well at that, and James who is a strong RB to take that role.

“Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said that he anticipates James Conner being a bigger part of the passing game this year. Last season, Conner mostly came off the field in passing situations, and Isaac Bennett or Rachid Ibrahim went on as a third-down back. That won’t necessarily be the case this year.
“I think James Conner has the ability to do whatever James Conner wants to do,” Chaney said. “He’s got tremendous ball skills. He can catch the ball and obviously you know what he can do when he has it in his hands.”

After the last scrimmage Chad Voytik was interviewed and said “We have James Conner running the ball and we have Tyler Boyd catching it. That is our offense right there”

That makes me cringe a bit because I, and others, believe we wasted some aspects of our offensive player’s skills last year, mainly the TEs. We didn’t throw the ball out of the backfield much at all and Bennett was a great back for that as is Ibrahim and we didn’t use the H-Back position (Parrish and Orndoff) hardly at all. I’m hoping this staff understands the talent level they have inherited with or ‘skilled’ guys and tailor the offense to take advantage of that. This especially in light of the fact that the best passing skill set Voytik has is the short and intermediate passes which he can execute quickly and while rolling out.

It would be nice to see him air it out more than last year, he didn’t, or wasn’t allowed to, throw deep balls hardly at all, but our core passing game should be stuffed with getting the ball to the talented receivers, whoever they may be, and letting them run as far as they can with it.

Scrimmage # 2 was held today and below are the videos, stats and quotes from today’s practice session. This is the last full scrimmage until the Spring Game on April 18th at Highmark Stadium in Station Square.

Some things in that film jumped out at me that might not have been referenced in the quotes below. You’ll notice that this scrimmage saw a lot of TE use as receivers by both Voytik and Bertke. #81 rsFR Tony Harper is a TE who looks bigger than the listed 6’2” & 220 and who presents a large target and #83 Scott Orndoff is as much like a TE/H-Back hybrid as he is pure TE and I think we’ll see him some more in that H-Back role this season.

Even though Orndoff is 6’5” & 260, the perfect size for a college TE, his ability level and quickness allows a staff to set him back into the backfield (almost) and either act as a alternate Fullback with Parrish, but to also drop into pass block and/or release for swing passes out in the flat.

Anyway, from seeing the videos this spring it looks like we may see some of that in the fall. Holtz, on the other hand, is a bruiser who is very hard to take down after the catch. You get him the ball on a 3rd and long anywhere near the sticks and he’ll move them.

I have been touting #37 rsFR RB Quadree Ollison on here since the moment he set foot in fall camp last year. Watching those practices and scrimmages (ah, the good old days) you could see his talent level was right up there with Chris James. Actually Ollison might have been better in camp but the staff went with James for their own reasons.

In a conversation with RB Coach John Settle in mid-camp last fall he told me that the decision on who to redshirt would go down to the final practice before the season started. If you look back at Ollison’s offer sheet you see it is pretty impressive with 12 other FBS schools wanting him including PSU and Wisconsin.

I kind of expect to see a lot of Ollison this season because since it is almost automatic that James Conner goes in the draft (short RB shelf life) we need Ollison’s size , he is up to 6’2” and 235 now) and speed to complement James’ semi-bowling ball running style.

There has been a lot of camp talk about #30 JR MLB Mike Caprara lately and apparently this staff likes undersized linebackers who have heart. Kidding there, he is a kid who set tackling records (350) at his Woodland Hills HS and has a nose for the ball.

Huh, some interesting stats pop up here but let’s put our thinking caps on and remember that it is only spring and we have four months before the real deal in Fall Camp even starts – that is when the rubber really meets the road. So…

Ollison comes in with 97 yards on 14 attempts for a 6.9 ypc. A lot of that was gained in one breakaway ramble where he went for 64 yards. James didn’t fare so well with 37 yards on 13 carries for 2.8 ypc. #7 rsFR QB Adam Bertke put on quite a show with going 15 of 29 with 1 INT and 3 TDs. He put up 218 yards passing for a great 14.5 yards per completion and a decent 7.5 yards per attempt.

On the receiving side Boyd was his usual good self but there were a few interesting stats here: rsFR Elijah Ziese had 5 catches for 43 yards and Ollison had 38 yards on 4 receptions out of the backfield. On the defensive side LBs #3 Nick Grigsby led all tacklers with seven while his brother #4 Bam Bradley came in with six and both kids had a Sack TFL apiece.

Here are the transcripts of the post-practice interviews and links to the video on the Pitt Live Wire

Coach Pat Narduzzi on players; saying there is a fine line between lack of execution and a lack of intensity: Video:Coach Pat Narduzzi

“Well, if they don’t execute there is two reasons: trying to not execute or do they not know what they are doing. The first thing is the knowledge. It’s hard to execute when you don’t know what you’re doing. Then, if you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s hard to be intense about it because you can’t do it full force.

Those two go hand-in-hand. That’s why we talk about playing with intensity, effort and toughness. But you have to have the knowledge. If you don’t have the knowledge, you can’t have any of that. That’s why these classrooms are so important.”

On his scrimmage highlights:

“There are all kinds of things. I thought our defense did a better job stopping the run. To me, the highlight as a coach is you better be able to run the football. I thought James (Conner) maybe didn’t get as many carries as you want him to. [Qadree] Ollison had a good day. I think he may have had 100 yards rushing. [When you run nearly] 130 plays, things add up.

We will try to gauge how many yards per attempt and how many against the [first team]. We will really break this down like you wouldn’t believe as far as all our goals and attempts. Main thing is, last scrimmage the first play of the game was a touchdown—like a 65-yard run—and today it wasn’t.

That’s the first thing I see. I think defensively we did a pretty good job of stopping the run. To me, if you can stop the run on defense, you’ve got a chance. I know that’s been a weakness of ours. To me if I see some of that and I know that if we are stopping our offense running the ball like they’d like to, then we’ve got a chance.”

On if defensive end Rori Blair has the ability to play all three downs:

“No doubt about it. Rori is a great kid. He’s on the ground too much. We had a couple special teams (drills) and he was on the ground a few times. I’m like, ‘Rori, you better get up!’ We have the defensive linemen wearing knee braces now. They hate it. It’s slowing them down a little bit, so they don’t have as much speed.

Like I told them, we are trying to protect the investment because they have never worn knee braces before. On game day they don’t have to wear them, but we can’t afford to lose any player in a practice situation.”

On the playmakers on offense keeping the defense’s intensity up:

“I think when the defense is playing well against the weapons that we have on offense, it gives the defense a little bit of confidence. I also think it is a humbling experience for the offense if they don’t make the plays they want to. Tyler [Boyd] had some great catches. He had a circus catch on the sideline. I was like ‘Holy cow, I’m glad he’s on our team and we don’t have to defend that guy.’

He had a circus catch, and really a couple of them. Chad [Voytik] had some great throws as well. [Adam] Bertke had a nice day today too. It’s good to see our backup quarterback, he’s getting meaningful reps with the [second team] and might have thrown for a couple hundred yards really.

Like I said, we started off with some third downs in the red zone and kicked field goals. I think we kicked 12 field goals and I don’t know what the stats on making them or not making them would be. I thought [Chris] Blewitt did a good job as well.”

On the depth chart becoming clear:

“After we watch this tape it will be. There was some hammers coming down here and there. But I would imagine the competition is good when there’s somebody’s breathing down your neck. We always talked to our guys about you better be looking in the rearview mirror at who that guy is behind you. Sometimes it’s a reality check when somebody moves ahead of you. So, I think there’s a few of those and, who knows, we might move it right back after this scrimmage.”

On linebacker Jamal Davis II possibly playing defensive end:

“No, Jamal’s a linebacker for sure. He’s got great athletic ability. He’s still a baby, I mean he’s still a puppy as we call them. He’s too young to say he would be a defensive end. He’s athletic enough that you want to find a place for him to get onto the field. So we have toyed with maybe on our third-down package of putting as many athletes as we can on the field. Maybe (he) could be a third-down defensive end. He’s a linebacker right now for sure.”

On Dennis Briggs adjusting to cornerback:

“He’s got the ‘wow’ factor. Dennis Briggs has been a pleasant surprise. We’ve had our eyeball on him all through Fourth Quarter Program. What’s been most impressive about Dennis is his knowledge. He picked it up almost like a natural and he’s playing a little bit of nickel back and he can blitz, too. So he’s been very, very impressive here. I think he missed two days [while with the offense]. So he’s had five days on defense. I think we moved him maybe day three or day four.”

On the competition at nickel back:

“There’s competition everywhere. Malik [Henderson] has really been impressive for a true freshman. Usually those guys start off pretty good and then all of sudden as soon as too much information [comes], information overload and all of a sudden they crash and burn. But he has stayed pretty good and he’s a football player. He has some natural things to him that I really like.”

On coming out of the scrimmage healthy:

“You know, we really did—130 plays and we try to teach our kids to play fast, move your feet and never be loafing around. I think that really helps our kids when they are flying around to the football. I think we did come out really healthy.”

On who earned the Blue Jerseys, given to the scrimmage winners:

“The defense won the blue jerseys this week. It’s good to see it back and forth.”

On progression in the secondary:

“I think Reggie Mitchell is doing a great job. We are still looking for that guy in the boundary. Jevonte [Pitts] and Pat are battling hard. We’ll see, it’s still a battle and we will have to look at the tape today to find out. After a very good scrimmage, we will be really able to tell some things depth chart wise after today. But you know, Tuesday’s a different day. You are only as good as the last practice.”

On players seeing a new opportunity:

“I would hope so. When I first came in here, the first meeting I had was it’s a fresh start for everybody. So I hope they all have taken that to heart. Same thing with Michael Caprara. I mean there’s another guy, I don’t know how much football he’s played in the past. The word I got coming in here was he felt like he didn’t have a chance to play.

He’s a great football player and I’m really impressed with what Mike’s doing as well. So there’s a few of those guys from what I’ve heard and I didn’t watch any tape or don’t know how many reps they’ve had. There’s some guys that haven’t played a lot of football in the past that we need a lot of good football out of.”

“Our defensive showed up today. The offense had a tough go of it. The defense had more energy. We had enough positive plays to build upon, but we had too many negative plays. We were behind the sticks the whole day. We have to stay in front of the sticks because it is hard to call a game when you are behind the sticks the whole time. Hats off to the defense today. We will go back to the drawing board and correct all of our mistakes and build on it.”

On what stuck out about the offense:

“Tyler [Boyd] made some plays on vertical balls, as usual. James [Conner] had a couple of nice screen plays. I though Chris James made a couple of nice plays on inside runs. I think the linemen made some nice plays down the field on some screen plays.

But I don’t think the offense had their ‘A’ game today. I think we were a little off. I don’t think Chad [Voytik] or Adam [Bertke] had their ‘A’ game so I have to do a better job of putting them in position to be successful.”

On James Conner in the passing game:

“James Conner has the ability to do whatever James Conner wants to do. He has tremendous balls skills and I like what he can do when he has the ball in his hands. James has the ability to be a good pass protector. He is big and physical and we don’t have a lot of complexity in our system so I will look for him to do that.”

On the defense today:

“They came out with a better attitude. They were ready to roll a little more than we were. They made some big plays and got some enthusiasm and they kept that going. We would get a little momentum and then couldn’t build on it. We weren’t there today. It just felt like we weren’t clicking on all cylinders.”

“He is a guy who plays with a lot of energy. He is a guy we have had play multiple positions. We had him in the middle early on and saw a chance for him to be on the field. We look at the depth chart every day and it is fluid. Guys don’t just get a starting spot, they have to earn it. The depth chart is fluid and we tell them that every day. It is awesome because it is built in competition.

Our goal is to get the best 11 players on the field and we feel like Mike may give us a chance to do that and he hasn’t let us down yet. All 14 of my guys have stepped up to the plate, and he is one guy who made major strides today.”

On moving players to new positions:

“It starts in the classroom. It’s about making sure they know where to line up. You look at a guy like Jameel Poteat who came from running back, Dennis Briggs who was a running back and is now playing corner. You start with them in the classroom and then it is throwing them out there with a sink-or-swim mentality—go line up and if you make a mistake, just go run around and see what you are about.”

On Bam Bradley:

“The competition is so heavy. It is big time right now. I don’t know if he has taken a step back, but other guys are making plays—Mike Caprara being one of those guys. Bam is in the mix. You have a defensive head coach. He has created an atmosphere of pure competition. I think it stunned a couple of people early on, but they are rising to the occasion. I look forward to have six to eight people in the mix. He is one of those guys who is starting to push and starting to understand the standard we want to set on defense.”

“It was alright. The offense didn’t move the ball as well as last Saturday. We learned a lot and I think it was good for us. If we can learn from it and come back it will be good for us.”

On his scrimmage highlights:

“I had a few. I know the third pass of the game was a touchdown to (Zach) Challingsworth, a fade route. It was nice to get the scrimmage started like that.”

On wide receiver Zach Challingsworth:

“I think he is coming around. He’s grown up a lot and is making big plays for us. So, he had a good day.” Reed on players who use Coachspeak:Go to class and fabricate your own descriptions, ‘grown up’ is for the adults to use.

On his observations of the new offense:

“(Coach Chaney) is going to throw it and he’s going to run it. Offense is offense. He is going to do the same thing as we did last year, I feel. We have James Conner at running back and everyone knows that. We are going to give him the ball because he is a great player. We have Tyler Boyd, he’s a great player, so we are going to throw him the ball. That’s our offense.”

Note: I f you want to hear and see some great footage of some PITT players with excellent and detailed commentary then watch these videos titled “Bostick Breakdown” on YouTube. Great stuff and more info than you read about in the papers.

]]>116Reedhttp://www.pittblather.com/?p=199492015-03-28T12:52:16Z2015-03-28T12:48:58ZI just saw this article from DiPaola of the Trib and thought it would be good to get your collective blood pressure up before you really start your weekend…

New Mississippi State coach Ben Howland said Friday former Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson never received proper credit for the Panthers’ move from the Big East to the ACC.

“I hope people realize what an unbelievable job Steve Pederson did for Pitt basketball and the university,” Howland said on TribLive Radio. “You would not be in the ACC today were it not for his vision.”

Pederson hired Howland in 1999 and guided the Panthers to two NCAA Tournament appearances in four seasons. Howland left Pitt for UCLA, where he guided the Bruins to three consecutive Final Four appearances, including a national runner-up finish in 2005-2006. His lead assistant with the Panthers, Jamie Dixon, succeeded him at Pitt. UCLA fired Howland after the 2012-13 season. Mississippi State hired Howland on Tuesday. Pitt fired Pederson in December.

“If Pitt was still in Pitt Stadium and playing in (Fitzgerald Field House), you’d be in the AAC in a no-bid league with (non-revenue) football and wondering what we’re going to do next,” Howland said.

Discuss please until we have news from today’s scrimmage to talk about…

Note: the number to call if you feel like you are about to hurt yourself or others is 1-800-STEVEAD

Thursday’s practice sessions is in the books and below are the transcripts for some interviews with Narduzzi, Coach Hill, and two players from yesterday’s workout. There is some interesting stuff starting to come out of these practices, none totally unexpected but interesting nonetheless.

First off Coach Narduzzi is now more expansive in describing where the players and the team are at this point in practices. The coaching staff is turning up the heat as far as competition for playing positions go with adjusting the depth chart going into the session’s second scrimmage being held tomorrow. The difference between a school’s established HC doing this in the spring and a school’s brand newly hired HC doing it is that the players have to really grasp and understand that this staff holds no allegiance to anyone on the depth chart (more on that later). Interesting point that the depth chart shuffling doesn’t happen on scrimmage days.

I find two issues in his interview deserve a closer look. His statement about Tyrique Jarrett doing well during the actual plays and impressing the staff with his work and “then he’ll walk somewhere and make me mad.” That goes hand in hand with Narduzzi’s prior comments about 100% effort at all times. I suppose he and his staff demand that you run everywhere.

The second point is that he is now peeling back the curtain a bit on how his staff actually approaches the nuts and bolts of conducting practices and scrimmages. Both the comment about the limit on which days they installing new “stuff” and then running those new plays / formations only a few times before they break off for a day or two, watch the insertion on film, then correct any flaws during the next practice until it is up to their satisfaction.

This is a fantastic video, Pitt’s Dynamic Duo: Tyler Boyd and James Conner, that delves into the on and off the field relationship of our two offensive stars James Conner and Tyler Boyd. Have fun watching it. I particularly like the part where they describe their favorite plays of the other kid. At one point in the film, after showing Conner run around and through defensive players, he talks about his very effective stiff-arm’ move “I think our other guys (RBs) should use it more often, they don’t do it enough… it is what it is.” He says that with a chuckle meaning he beats the crap out of defensive backs with it and has fun while doing it. “

Two great players, two good role models and hopefully, two great leaders for the 2015 season (probably their last in a PITT uniform unless we get lucky).

Here is the web Link for PITT’s Thursday Practice Photo Gallery. Here are a few photos that jumped out at me: Coach Tom Sim’s Evil Eyes; how big LB Reggie Green looks; the complete Old Testament tattooed on J.P. Holtz’s left arm and the insidious way the coaching staff confuses the defense by having two QB throw the ball two different directions during the same play.

“We’re starting to get to the point where coaching should take place and there should be improvement, and there’s improvement in some areas and there’s no improvement in other areas. The first few days were calm but now there has to be some pressure on the kids to make improvements. That’s what we’re going to see. There’s going to be some changes in the depth chart here and there. I would imagine after the scrimmage on Saturday, you had a chance to learn it and do what we needed to do. So we’re at that point now and it’s getting serious.

“I think our offense is really doing a good job. I think they’re starting to click and Coach Chaney has done a nice job and they have enough offense in that they can be explosive. Defensively, anytime you put new plays in on offense, the defense has the hardest job in the country because you have to react to it.

You have to react to what an offense is doing formationally, you correct reads, and anytime there’s new plays, we’re going to struggle. That doesn’t bother me. It is techniques, fundamentals and the little things that I could see improvement on. Some guys that aren’t showing improvement are going to slip down the depth chart and we’re going to give other guys an opportunity.

It’ll be fun to evaluate the tape as we continue to move. The more knowledge they have, I want them to get better as far as their knowledge and little things they’re doing.”

On defensive end Rori Blair being an every down player:

“He can play first and second down, no doubt about it. He has to continue to get better. I ate dinner with him last night down in the café and he has to eat better. We’re trying to control and get in everything. He goes slowly, ‘Coach I can’t eat anymore.’ I said I could eat all that plus my plate. Why can I eat it and you can’t? So we have to teach them how to eat, too. He has to get bigger, but he could be a very good football player for us. He just has to learn that motor all the time.”

On where he has seen the most improvement through six practices:

“It’s hard to say. You’ve seen improvement in so many areas. It’s hard to say because you see improvement every day, but is it enough? It’s never enough for a coach. There has been a lot of areas—I couldn’t tell you one area. There’s been a lot of improvement and there’s some areas that are staying the same, but nothing has gotten worse but it’s supposed to get better. You have to get better every day.”

On a strong defensive line being the most important part to a winning team:

“I think a strong offensive line is and a strong defensive line. We always talk about that it starts up front. If you can’t win up front with those guys, you have a problem. You can have the greatest secondary in the world, but if you don’t have a defensive line that can put some pressure on the quarterback you’re going to have issues. It starts up front offensively and defensively.”

“Every day, except maybe the day before the scrimmage, which we have tomorrow to review it. We won’t install anything Saturday morning. Scrimmage days we don’t install. We’re going to continue to give those guys another peak just to keep them thinking. It’s never going to stay the same. They have to pick it up. The first seven days of next fall, they’ll have this thing much better than where they are now. That’s expected.

Then we’ll get it. We don’t expect the new stuff we put in today to be perfect. There’s no coach in the country that should. That’s why if you put a new defense in, you don’t run it 15 times. You run it a couple times then watch tape and make sure they see it and they’ll go ‘OK, I have it now.’ The film sessions are incredible.”

On if the depth chart shuffling is taking players by surprise:

“It’s probably taken some guys by surprise already. There’s already been movement that maybe you guys don’t see. We’ll move it every day. We don’t just move it during scrimmages. It gets moved daily to shake things up. It’s been good for some guys.”

On players stepping up:

“It’s up and down. I’d say Tyrique [Jarrett] looks really good and then he’ll walk somewhere and make me mad. There’s good and bad out of everybody. I’d have to watch tape before I’d say that after this practice.”

On what he has seen from Jevonte Pitts so far:

“Jevonte has been doing a good job. He’s sound right now and we’ll see after what happened today. If you know how to do your job and do the little things right, you have a chance to play. He’s a good tackler and he gets in the right spot most of the time. That’s something we’re looking for.”

On the success on offense:

“Chad [Voytik] is doing a nice job. I think he’s in there with Coach Chaney for hours. I don’t know if he goes to class. I might have to do a class check tomorrow. I think he only has class with Coach Chaney at times. I think every extra minute he has, he’s in here studying. He’s a guy that studies the game. He has a strong arm and can make a lot of throws out there. He’s going to put the offense in the right place.”

On things standing out consistently in film after practice:

“Every day. You see more in the classroom than you see on the practice field. You can see effort. If I know the play I can see where the guy’s eyes are. It’s a lot of eye control on defense and finishing plays on offense. You see little things, but you can’t see 11 guys. When you watch tape, you’re seeing every one of those guys. The things you see there, you try to create a drill and individual that you can fix it. I think we fix some things and then our offense does some more plays then you have to fix that the next day. That’s what we do.”

Cornerbacks Coach Renaldo Hill on assessing the group after a couple weeks of practice:

“There’s been improvement every day and that’s the one thing as a coach you like to see. We just have to continue to work. We have a lot of spring left and I just want to continue to see that development.”

On corner Avonte Maddox getting ready for his sophomore year:

“He’s starting to pick up on the small detailed things that we talk about. A lot of times when you’re a freshman, you just want to line up and play. That’s one thing I knew about him. He’s going to line up and play regardless, but now he’s starting to pick up on the fine-tune things like receiver splits and certain situations where they might try to attack you. He’s starting to understand the aspects of the football game a little better.”

On Avonte Maddox going up against Duke’s All-ACC receiver Jamison Crowder last year:

“I watched the film and the one thing you like to see is that he continued to get back up there and compete, play after play. He was going up against the top receiver in the conference but I don’t think he was afraid of the challenge at all. He just kept stepping up to the plate and as a defensive back we all know that we have to have a short memory back there.

“You definitely want to have corners with short memory because we know we play a lot of up-and-close in your face and we know we’re going to get a lot of deep routes in that situation. We just need to make sure that we’re winning the battle at the end of the day and coming out with the ‘W.’”

On Pat Amara having the ability to play safety and corner: “Pat is a really smart player. He is able to pick up on the scheme…He even asked me if he could move outside and play a little corner.”

Cornerback Reggie Mitchell on his thoughts after two weeks of practice:

“It feels good. We’re coming out and attacking every day. I have a totally different mindset this year of just constantly getting after the ball every single day. I’m feeling good with the new program.”

On his role: “I’m primarily the field safety so I just have one position this year.”

On developing a “pursuit mentality”: “We didn’t have that mentality last year. It wasn’t eleven guys to the ball. Since they’re putting more emphasis on it, they obviously saw that we needed to improve in that area.”

On having Coach Narduzzi always around the defense: “I love when he comes down and works with us. It’s one-on-one coaching from the best.”

On new assistant coach Renaldo Hill, who played in the NFL: “It’s great as well. He knows a lot of different little things that receivers do that he gives us little tips on. I’ve definitely improved a lot just from the little time I’ve had with him.”

On the safety’s role in the defense: “We’re playing a lot closer to the line and have a run-first mentality on every play. We’re making sure they aren’t going to run the ball on us.”

On the simplification theme with the defense: “Coach Narduzzi made everything much simpler this year. He drills us in the film room with questions, but once we get on the field it’s just play.”

One last thought provoking idea… The staff has talked about mixing the depth chart around during the spring, that is normal and we expect to see a lot more of that in fall camp including at the QB position when our transfer from Tennessee rsJR Nate Peterman arrives. Peterman is a graduate transfer thus is eligible to play right away this season with two full years of eligibility at PITT, he isn’t a one year fix like Tom Savage was and he is being brought in to compete for the starting job.

Narduzzi doing that serves two purposes, one being that he may actually be a better QB than Voytik and win the starters job outright and two, he will push Voytik to do his absolute best in fall camp. As much as we PITT fans like Chad Voytik he didn’t really play well enough so as to not allow any competition for the job.

If you look at the overall status of our passing game last season it was pretty average at best, and in some aspects pretty poor. In 2014 PITT’s passing game was: 34th nationally in Passing Efficiency; 77th in Passing Yards (Voytik) and 102nd in Passing Offense. That part of the offense can be better, and we shouldn’t overlook the fact that our OC Jim Cheney has a long history with Peterman as Peterman’s OC during the young QB’s years at Tennessee and he personally lobbied hard to get Peterman to transfer to PITT.

Back in Chaney actually recruited Peterman to Tennessee when Peterman was the 4-star #8 ranked HS QB in the nation. Going into the 2015 season he’s grown to 6’2” and 225 lbs, nice size for a QB and graduated with an undergrad degree in three years so he’s a sharp kid also.

This is no slouch pick-up bench warmer but someone who was brought in for a purpose and I think the fact that he has two years at PITT means a great deal.

Voytik has his very effective running game going for him and that may well be the big difference maker in keeping the job but there will be an open and true QB competition before the season starts. If I was a betting man I’d say 70/30 Voytik starts the season albeit on a short hook. However, I wouldn’t be shocked if the new staff went with Peterman right off the bat either because, again, there is no loyalty to Voytik by the new staff. Either way I think he was a great pickup by Narduzzi and Cheney.

]]>52Justinhttp://www.pittblather.com/?p=199412015-03-26T14:22:28Z2015-03-26T13:53:38ZQB Thomas MacVittie has committed to Pitt per Jerry DiPaola and others. MacVittie is a 6’4″ dual threat QB who’s set to be a first time starter this upcoming season. This would normally be a negative, but he’s coming from Ohio powerhouse Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati) and his physical skills are elite. 6’4 QBs with strong arms and 4.5 speed aren’t common. MacVittie will likely blow up this season, so hopefully this is a commitment that will stick.

The concern regarding MacVittie’s lack of experience isn’t unfounded. However, Pitt is not going to attract proven QBs with elite talent right now. That leaves the coaches the option of taking less talented players or taking talented players who for some reason haven’t had the opportunity to shine. With Voytik here for two more years along with Adam Bertke and Ben DiNucci, the coaches have options if MacVittie doesn’t pan out. Also at 6’4″ with 4.5 speed, another position is certainly an option. But, if MacVittie puts those physical tools to use, Pitt could have a steal.

Breaking News: DiPaola of the Trib has an article on PITT’s AD search. The ticker-tape news is that four, count them, (4) months after firing the old AD the PITT Chancellor has started looking for a new one!!

One resounding endorsement of the recently hired DHR search firm is that “Both (DHR Reps) were consultants to Colorado State in its recently completed search for a football coach and athletic director. Oh Hell Yes! If it was good enough for mighty Colorado State with that tough media market they will kick ass for PITT. Whatever, at least the search committee from PITT members is well represented; Pitt’s search committee is chaired by acting athletic director Randy Juhl and includes track and field coach Alonzo Webb, women’s basketball coach Suzie McConnell-Serio and football player Artie Rowell.

Why do I have a weird feeling in my gut that at this point PITT might not be the blue-chip directorship position we fans want it to be? I’m just hoping the really highly qualified candidates across the country have a very short memory when it comes to PITT athletics. Either way, it will be interesting to see who gets the final nod – let the speculation begin!

DiPaola also has a nice piece about the possible new starters at LB in Grigsby and Bradley.

The position is vital to the necessary improvement of the Pitt defense after last year’s pair, Anthony Gonzalez and Todd Thomas, exhausted their eligibility after leading the team in tackles. Grigsby, a senior, and Bradley, a junior, are brothers — two of 12 siblings in a family that includes Steelers safety Will Allen and former Dayton basketball player Chris Wright. The athletic genes clearly are there. It’s the job of Narduzzi and linebackers coach Rob Harley to help Grigsby and Bradley make big plays.

“Grigsby has been really good so far, really explosive,” Narduzzi said. “We put in a package today, and it looks like he liked it.” Bradley, who is two years younger than his brother, said he has some bad habits that need to be eliminated.

The P-G has a piece on Alex Bookser wanting to practice himself into the starting wherever, he’s not picky.

Pitt offensive lineman Alex Bookser isn’t picky about what position he plays. Tackle, guard, even center, Bookser is just trying to prove he belongs on the field. A week into spring practice, Bookser likely is one of the favorites to start at right guard this fall, a position vacant because of Matt Rotheram’s graduation. Bookser hasn’t played the position extensively since high school, but the Mt. Lebanon graduate appears to have the inside track at the job.

“It’s not up to me when it comes down to it,” Bookser said. “If they want me to play tackle, I’ll play tackle. If they want me to play guard, I’ll play guard. If they want me to play center, I’ll play center. It’s just me getting on the field. It doesn’t matter where it is.”

It is pretty interesting that the P-G has pretty much backed out of trying to cover the practice sessions. They have the above article on Bookser and that is it. The Redshirt Diaries last entry was March 17th, not that I blame them.

Also, before we get too far into the discussion about the practice on Tuesday, take a look at this interesting Pitt Live Wire Feature video and see the field and defenders from WR Tyler Boyd’s POV. See spring practice through Tyler Boyd’s eyes.

Notice that he doesn’t miss any passes while wearing it, or he slipped the editor a sawbuck to lose the drops.

As a seque into the actual practice itself, take a look at how Coach Narduzzi gets the most out of this squad out on the practice field. Here it is, Narduzzi Mic’d Up, have fun

Coach Pat Narduzzi on spring practice being one week:

Video:Coach Pat Narduzzi interview

“We’re a third of the way through. We’re at practice number five today and we got some good work in. Sometimes it’ll be good or bad but that’s why we practice. We still have to pick up our tempo because it’s not good enough. We can be better. Little by little we’ll get to where we need to be.”

On cornerback Reggie Mitchell:

“We have Reggie at the free safety position and I think he’s been really good so far. He’s been a pleasant surprise. He’s athletic and he can do what you want him to do. He had a good scrimmage again today.”

On if he has learned anything new from watching the scrimmage on tape:

“It’s always different. I told the players in our team meeting before practice that sometimes when you walk off the field you think it looks good, then you watch the tape and it doesn’t look so good. Then there are days when I’ve been mad on the field then went and watched tape to realize that it wasn’t that bad. So you never really know. It was a solid scrimmage. I was happy with where we were at in scrimmage number one.”

On linebackers Nicholas Grigsby and Bam Bradley:

“We need two athletic guys at outside linebacker. They both have that athletic ability. Grigsby has been really good so far and he’s explosive. We tried something new today and he seemed to like it. We still have to break some more habits out of Bam. But he does all of the right things but he has to do it with a little more intensity and emotion.”

On if he knew them as high school recruits:

“They were both good kids and we recruited both of them at Michigan State because we knew they were both good players.”

On offensive guard Alex Bookser:

“He’s a starter right now at the guard position and he’s doing a nice job. He’s aggressive and intense. Again, everyone’s trying to learn a new system. It’s all a new system. We put in a whole new front today defensively and put in a package today that put them at square one; they have never done it before. It’ll be a work in progress. It looked good today but wait until they get good at it.”

On if it’s difficult to run plays they’ve never seen before:

“It’s difficult for them but easy for me. It’s difficult but that’s what it is. If they knew exactly what to do they wouldn’t need [coaches]. The fun part is putting stuff out there and teaching them how to do it, and do it right.”

Defensive Line Coach Tom Sims on the defensive line so far this spring:

“We have to get more consistent. We saw flashes of being a pretty solid group but then other times, not as much up to the standard that we expect. We’re working hard and trying to get better every day.”

On the unit’s performance in the first scrimmage:

“Up and down. Sometimes we looked good, other times we didn’t look good. You strive to be consistent. That’ll be our focus going in into this week.”

On the defensive ends:

“It’s going to be a battle. We have some players with explosion, some with size, and others with experience. It’s just a matter of adapting to our scheme, getting used to the way that we teach things and our standards. Hopefully we’ll continue to improve as spring practice continues.”

On defensive end Rori Blair:

“He plays hard and gives you everything he has. [Blair weighing] 225 or 235, throwing everything at you is better than 300 [pounds] going halfway. We just need to get everything we can out of him as far as his effort and focus, get him good technically then hopefully we can overcome some of those obstacles.

“I want him to eat, lift and run. In that order. Hopefully that leads to good weight gain.”

On defensive end Ejuan Price:

“I think that Ejuan Price has a considerable upside. He’ll have a chance to be a good football player around here. We’ll have to get him healthy. He seems to have a good attitude. We’ll take it as it comes, but I’m pleased with his focus.”

On leadership expectations for the defensive line:

“I expect every man to lead this group. I expect us to establish a standard and then work to surpass that standard every day. Some days we do and some days we don’t. We have to get it to a point where we do it every day.”

“I’m really excited to play linebacker again because that’s where my heart is at. I’m excited to make some plays.”

On what he has to change to adapt to this position:

“Making sure I have good footwork and reading the backs and guards. I just have to tune in to that.”

On having to make any changes physically or lose weight:

“I feel like I’m still pretty athletic so there’s no problem.”

On taking on fullbacks and offensive linemen:

“I’m excited. I like contact so that isn’t a big step. I was on the line playing guys that were 300 pounds, so I have to hold my own, which I’m going to do.”

On new linebacker coach Rob Harley:

“He’s a good coach. He makes sure you know the material and is always in your ear encouraging us to watch film. They’re all good coaches.”

On the new defense having something to prove:

“Everyone always talks about the offense. Our offense is great. We have to make a statement on defense that we’re just as good.”

On Coach Pat Narduzzi keeping a closer eye on the defense:

“Every time you look up he’s hollering and looking at you. He’s here making sure you’re doing the right thing. I enjoy having a defensive head coach because he’s down there more often and more in to the defense.”

On spring practices now compared to last year:

“It’s pretty intense. There’s no slacking physically or mentally. We’re running around making sure you know what you’re doing at the drop of a dime.”

“It’s something that I’m looking forward to. The corner is a big part of this defense.”

On pressing now more so than other years:

“I like pressing. With pressing, you’re right in their face and it’s limited to certain routes.”

On the defense having something to prove:

“I really feel like that unit has something to prove. Everyone talks about the offense and the offense is great, but it’s time to make our defense great.”

On feeling comfortable on the field after gaining experience last year:

“I feel really comfortable. My confidence has gone up since last year. When I first came in, I was confident but I wasn’t really there yet. I was still trying to learn. This year I feel like I can get out there and play.”

On how the corners did in the scrimmage:

“We did alright. We still have a lot to work on. Personally, I need to work on my feet and staying inside my box. Other than that, I feel like we did a good job and we have a lot to work on still.”

On the new coaching staff being more intense:

“They run with us so it’s not just us running. They’re running around with us.”

On having a head coach in Pat Narduzzi with a defensive background:

“I do like that. He’s not always on the offensive side, he’s on our side. He’s making us better.”

“Practice is practice, but I feel like we over-emphasize running to the ball more and making sure we get eleven guys to the ball and sprinting everywhere.”

On new linebackers coach Rob Harley:

“He’s real cool and a younger guy. He played at Ohio State with my brother. I feel like he can relate to us as players.”

On working to become a starting linebacker this year:

“I just have to get rid of some old bad habits as far as myself and my game. I definitely feel like that’s what I’m working towards and that’s the goal not only for [the team] but I need to make myself better to get where I need to get.”

On spring practices now compared to last year:

“It’s definitely different. I was with that staff for three years so everyone knew what to expect from them and they had seen everyone come in and grow as players. With the new staff, all they have is film from last year. Coming in now, it’s like a first impression so you have to make your first impression on these new coaches.”

On what was learned after the first scrimmage on Saturday:

“We’re going to compete on both sides of the ball, but we still have a lot of work to do to get to where the coaches want us to be. We know their system wins so there’s no way around it. We know we have to get up to the level they expect us to be at.”

Here is an interesting tidbit from the Trib’s PITT blog in reference to the sidelines during practice. Of course the player’s parents and HS coaches are important for recruiting but it isn’t as if a total blackout is going on.

Don’t forget to add PITT Live Wire to your bookmarks. The Athletic Media Dept does a good job of archiving all the media pieces so we fans can see and read them at any time.

]]>70Reedhttp://www.pittblather.com/?p=199002015-03-24T12:53:33Z2015-03-24T10:09:15ZWhile we are waiting for some real PITT news to come out of the Southside facilities let’s take a look at the prospective 2015 Panther team starters by position and delve into their backgrounds and what they have done so far while playing for PITT.

Quarterback

We’ll start with the offensive field general and perennial lightning rod for criticism, the QB position as that is what the offense starts with. For 2015 we have the returning starter Chad Voytik who began his starting career as a rsSO last season.

Chad Voytik, #16, Quarterback,6-1 • 205 • JR*, Cleveland, TN

When Voytik came to PITT he wasn’t a drop back and sit in the pocket passer but took every opportunity to scramble out and use his talent as a ball carrier. Once at PITT and being coached by Brooks Bollinger he turned into a QB who started to understand that in the more detailed college ball, and with more highly talented receivers, a QB called to execute a pass play really had to look at the pass first and escape only if necessary. That was drummed into him continually after he first set foot on campus.

What that allowed Voytik to do, in the years working up to this starting position, was to become a QB who was equally efficient with both his arm and his legs and he showed that last season. He started off the season slowly as a new starter but once he became accustom to the pace of the game and the whole overall responsibilities of the position he went on to have a productive year.

What was expressly impressive was that in the second half of the season he threw only one interception in 144 passing attempts. That equates to an interception rate of .006 which is off the charts and would place him #1 in the nation; by contrast Heisman Trophy winner Mariota of Oregon’s rate was .008, if INT rate was a separate NCAA statistical category. Great protection of the pass and he also had good control of the football when taking off and running (almost always).

– In his first season as Pitt’s starting quarterback, Voytik completed61% of his passes (176 of 287) for 2,233 yards with 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions• Ranked third in the ACC in pass efficiency with a 140.2 rating

– Threw only one INT over the final six games of the season after throwing six in his initial seven contests

– Was the team’s second leading rusher with 466 yards and three TDs on 108 carries (4.3 avg.)

– Named Pitt’s Armed Forces Bowl MVP after throwing for 222yards and a TD (18-of-35 passing) and rushing for 40 yards on six carries (6.7 avg.) against Houston

– Threw for a career-high 250 yards on 19-of-29 passing with one INT against Iowa

– Despite being hindered by the flu, led Pitt to a 35-23 win at Miami by completing 8-of-12 passes for 134 yards and a TD; helped clinch Pitt’s first win at Miami since 1963 with a one yard sneak on fourth-and-goal early in the fourth quarter and finished with 26 rushing yards on four carries (6.5 avg.)

– Had two 100-yard rushing games, including a game-high 118yards on 19 carries (6.2 avg.) vs. Virginia Tech and a 114-yardeffort on 12 carries (9.5 avg.) with a 32-yard TD Voytik’s FIU performance marked the first 100-yard rushing game by a Pitt quarterback since 1988

PITT fans are looking at Voytik and wondering about a few questions going into the season. With a new coaching staff and new offensive planning will he be able to keep that growth he had during the latter part of 2014 going? Narduzzi and Cheney have publicly stated that they won’t be changing too much, and really, why should they with Conner and Boyd in that offense. Still you never know what a new OC will do before they actually start doing it.

Will this staff open up the field more and allow Voytik to take more deep shots downfield? This has been one of the few somewhat negative parts of Voytik’s game so far and it was a guess as to where the pass might eventually get to. But he did complete some long balls on good passes and he also completed some others because of Boyd’s extraordinary skill in high pointing errant passes. I think a key here will be if speedy Jester Weah gets that starting #2 WR position. If so that may signal that Cheney wants to use his quickness to get down under Voytick’s long throws. Voytik got a bit better at this by the end of the year but it hasn’t been one his stronger points.

Will we see more planned runs by Voytik in ’14? I think so. Chryst held Voytik in the pocket in the first half of last season to make him accustomed to a ‘pass first, run second’ thought process when he was executing a called passing play. Voytik is very exciting back there in the QB position because of his ability to gain positive yardage with both his arm and his legs and it looks like that will continue and grow.

His completion percentage at 61.3% was good for a first time starter and while his yards per attempt was OK at 7.8 ypa where he shined was his 12.7 yards per completion was very good at 12.7 ypc. Compared to strong armed Tom Savage’s 12.4 ypc in ’13 and Tino Sunseri’s good 2012 year when he had a 12.8 ypc rate you can see Voytik held his own in this area of passing. A lot of Voytik’s ypc was made up of short and intermediate passes to Boyd where he made use of his running ability and picked up addition yards after the catch but that’s fine also. Anything to move the ball downfield consistently,.

IMO those are the two key aspects of a successful passing game, completion percentage and yards per completions and attempts, so the stage is set for him to grow into the position even more and then produce some real yards in a successful year for him.

Here some plays, and thoughts on them, that caught my eye as I watched the tape. Some will be talked about by the coach and players in the interview below. Every time the #1 Offense was out there it was against the #1 Defense. From watching the short video and listening to the interviews it sounds like Chad Voytik is completing a large amount of his attempts and that OC Jim Cheney has him starting to air out the ball a bit more than the last staff, but that is an inference on my part.

A reverse by Boyd – he was trapped for what looked like a Tackle for Loss (TFL) but worked his way out for a positive gain.

Looks like WR Dontez Ford is making a real play for that open #2 WR position; he had a TD catch in the right corner of the end zone on a 20+ yard pass.

“We talk about game day is game day. You can have a good practice; I’ve seen guys that come out and have great practices and then come into a scrimmage and don’t do so well. I think when it’s game day, you need to prepare. I think our coaches did a great job of getting our guys out there. (We) really prepared for a game. That’s what we tried to do and the kids came out with great emotion.

(They) came out and played hard. There are little things that we can clean up as coaches. Anytime there is a big play, I always say it’s a player and it’s a coach too. There were some big plays on offense, which as a head coach I’m kind of in a different spot.

There are big plays on offense, that’s great for the offense but then you feel bad for the defense. We’ve got to correct them…there were a lot of big plays made on both offense and defense. “I think the kids had a lot of fun and that’s the important thing.”

On the deciding play in the scrimmage:

“It was a big pass given up on defense. The offense made a big play and the defense didn’t make the play and it was a touchdown. Jester (Weah) caught the big touchdown at the end to win the game. It was excitement and the defense was all mad, but that’s good. That’s why we have next week to come back and get the blue jerseys (awarded to the winner). We play for the blue jerseys. The defense wore them last week and the offense will wear them this week.”

On running back James Conner:

“Tell you what, he’s a good player. James had a big run early that opened it up early. That run right there was probably 65 yards. (It was) blocked well, not defended very well. But a little adjustment, again I blame that on us as coaches. It was probably more us than the kids, over coached.”

Voytik was asked about if we would use the TEs more and he replied that at this point that really isn’t the case so far. There are a few specific plays for TEs and he passed to Holtz today but it came back by penalty.

His favorite plays from the scrimmage were the 2-minute drill where they went downfield for a TD and Dontez Ford’s back of the end zone tiptoe catch for a TD. Also, he singled out completing a fade route to Chris Wuestner from our own end zone moving the Offense out of danger…

Hardest part with the new staff is getting the terminology and concepts down. When asked if that would be completed by the end of the Spring Practices (WTH???) he looked taken aback and explained that that was what fall camp is for and spring is about learning and personnel competition.

Mentioned that in the first three practices the emphasis was all instituting plays and not anything against the Defense in particular. Today’s scrimmage was different.

Asked about Dontez Ford ‘stepping up’ he said Ford was playing well and that they were roommates over the spring so became closer and that’s been the case in practices also.

Asked about the protection from the right side of the OL he stated it was ‘great’ and allowed him time to complete passes… Bookser ‘played well’.

Voytik’s words:

“It was a lot of fun, finally some game tempo. The competitive juices come out and it was fun. We were successful today on offense, but still some things to improve on. I think as a team we had a lot of energy and had a good time.”

On the offense’s performance:

“I feel like we scored and moved the ball. We got first downs and when we were in backed-up situations, we got away from our own end zone. I feel overall we did pretty well.”

On his scrimmage highlights:

“I really enjoyed the two-minute drill. We were down by seven and we drove down and scored. I threw the ball to Dontez (Ford) and he caught it, tip-toed in the back of the end zone. That was probably my highlight. There were some big plays. Backed up in our own end zone, I threw a fade to Chris Wuestner and that’s big when you are in a game situation to get away from your own end zone.”

“It has been awesome. It’s been a great first week. It really went by fast. We have learned a lot and put a good amount in. It’s good to be running what we have so far and being out there (playing).”

On what he wants to show this spring:

“I am going to be a junior now, which is crazy to believe. I feel like I was just here. Just through experience, (I want) to lead by example a lot of times and be more vocal. That is one thing I definitely need to work on, on and off the field.”

On if the defense is simplified compared to last year:

“Definitely, I think 100 percent. We are just playing football. Obviously we have our certain schemes and everything, but at the same time they (the coaches) want us to play fast and just fill the gaps.

“If Coach (Pat Narduzzi) wants high energy, that’s what we have to give off. I feel like we are doing a good job. We know what he wants and we are here to give him what he wants. It’s definitely high energy. (There is) great enthusiasm and the players are on board and we are just ready to work.”

On the progress of the defensive line:

“We are definitely coming along, but we are far away from where we need to be. If we keep working, we will definitely get there.”

On the competition with the offense and shared progress:

“I feel like we make progress on both sides of the ball. We just basically have to keep working as a group, as a unit and getting each other better. The offense is going to win and the defense is going to win. I feel like that’s how the game should be played.”

Here are some other tidbits. Jenn Menendez of the Post-Gazette (the attractive women reported who we were wondering who it was, she normally covers the Penguins) has a nice piece on Matt Galambos and his thoughts on the scrimmage and the role he expects to play as a starting MLB (almost assured by the looks of the early practices) and as a leader on the team.

“This defense, Galambos said, is a simpler one.

(LB Coach) Harley explained earlier this week that the defense will line up the same around 80 percent of the time, and only make minor adjustments based on what the offense shows.

“They can only be in a handful of different alignments, that’s it,” Harley said (speaking of the defense) “So once they learn the nuances … we’re not going to change up defenses, say it’s third down, we’re going to run this. It’s going to be one thing and we’re going to get really good at.”

That simplification, Galambos said, has translated to an ease of understanding so far.

“I think 100 percent it’s simpler right now. We’re just playing football,” Galambos said. “First few days there’s going to be errors, there’s still going to be mistakes at practice but I think we’re going to limit them each time.

“Really we’re going to run what we run. It’s not like if this formation comes out we’re going to line up this way. It’s like we’re going to be the same every time. This is us, this is our defense. You’ve got to stop us. We’re going to dictate the game.”

DiPaola of the Trib writes about the physicality of the Panthers this year. This is an interesting bit from there:

“Narduzzi is proud of the strong defenses he developed as defensive coordinator at Michigan State the past eight seasons, but he is equally pleased with how they became that way.

“We definitely did hit a lot,” he said. “I think we hit more (in practice) than most people do.”

Asked why he did it that way, he almost didn’t understand the question.

“Because it’s a physical game,” he said. “To me, you play like you practice. If you practice like you’re playing soccer, you might go onto Heinz Field and play like you are playing a soccer game, not a football game.

“That’s been our equalizer. We are going to be tough. The only way you can be tough is to hit people.”

Like most coaches, Narduzzi mixes tackling-to-the-ground drills with what he calls “Thud” sessions when players make hard contact, but try to stay off the ground.

Any day I can say hello to Woodland Hills coach George Novak is a good one, and that was one of the highlights (for me) from Pitt’s first scrimmage of the spring. Media was escorted out of the indoor facility before the action got started, but not before Novak reminded me that five of his former players are lining up for Pitt:

On the field, there seemed to be a lot of action (I was told). Here is what I found out through some diligent reporting that consisted mainly of sticking a tape recorder into a lot of faces. (Emphasis mine)

You tell them Jerry! Not that it will change anything, but from the time the announcement of the media restriction soon before the practices started DiPaola has been the only formal PITT football beat writer who has actually come out with skepticism and some discontent about this really restrictive policy.

We wrote about it right on The Blather afterward also and it is the sole reason I didn’t make that 9 hour round trip drive to see 25 minutes of… well, nothing really. The media couldn’t watch any of the actual scrimmage so that they could, heavens forbid, tell loyal PITT fans what their team’s players and staff were doing out on the field.

There is a a lot of wonderment about what this staff is actually trying to accomplish with this policy. It appears to me that the super controlled way in which Narduzzi and his coaches go about business is working against what this program really needs. We all like the change in leadership in the program and think Narduzzi is a good choice to bring consistent winning football back to the university. However, if you look back to what they have done in ‘reaching out’ to the fan base they are hired to compete for you see that it was little more than flashes of small bits of emotional puffery with a lot of exclamation points behind them.

As Gertrude Stein once said about California “There is no there there.” Meaning that what we are led to believe about something or somewhere is not as advertised. Such was the huge social media push in Narduzzi’s first month on the job. He and his staff used lots of ‘emotional and exciting’ (quickly becoming 2015’s catchphrase) words in telling us how great things were going then all of a sudden they turned off the information tap.https://twitter.com/coachduzzpittfb

“We got a great roster of kids!!!” says ”@CoachDuzzPittFB” on twitter, but when it comes to offering a chance to see for ourselves how the staff is working with those same players or to see how the players are actually responding to the new staff by the player’s actual actions on the field, that is a completely different (non-)story.

He has brought back the Spring Game (yea!! says “@ReedForPulitzerPrize2015”) and let’s hope he treats it not just as a last practice as the previous coaches did (when it wasn’t cancelled) but he takes it as an opportunity to really showcase the players and give us fans and media types a look at what five weeks of practices has resulted in.

It would be best if he decides to do what the other PITT head coaches did with the more important fall camp which was to have open practices and scrimmages up until the last week of camp which is also the ‘prepare’ week for the first game . I think anyone would be happy with that and the PITT football administration would still be able to get the message across to fans and strive to keep us excited about this staff going directly into the 2015 season.

After all, don’t we all want to see if Tyler Boyd is still doing this during this spring session, or if James Conner has lost his ability to do this? (Check out his walk down the sidelines after a TD run at the 00:13 mark of the video).

]]>70Chashttp://www.pittblather.comhttp://www.pittblather.com/?p=198972015-03-22T14:29:42Z2015-03-22T14:29:42ZThat NC State team showed up last night. The one loaded with talent. Swift, long guards who can shoot from the perimeter and keep the other team’s guards from getting open looks. A burly frontcourt that can dominate on both ends. Most importantly, their collective head stayed in the game the entire way. You watch them on a night like that and wonder how they are not a top-ten team.

Then you think back to the game against LSU where they didn’t show up for the first half (and a chunk of the second). The BC game. A slew of others, and it boggles the mind. I don’t trust them, but I’m not surprised by anything they do at this point.

Notre Dame made it to the Sweet 16 to keep the ACC perfect in the Tournament so far. Did not expect that.

The Big East is survived by Xavier. Other than Villanova going down last night, this is not totally surprising. Georgetown was a popular upset pick against Eastern Washington, so the fact that they made it to Saturday before losing is a kind of progress… I guess. St. John’s had no chance once it was learned that Chris Obekpa was suspended.

Onto today’s games.

Michigan State-Virginia. It is a game involving Virginia, so of course it will be a low scoring defensive battle. Michigan State can handle the physical play. But UVa is more efficient on offense.

San Diego St.-Duke. Pitt lost rather handily to both teams. SDSU has the size to at least keep Jahlil Okafor somewhat in check. But unless their guards have a hellacious shooting game on the perimeter, Duke has way more offensive options.

Wichita State-Kansas. The intrastate match-up that has been anticipated all week. The Shockers haven’t had a good reason to play the underdog/scrappy team since their Final Four run and perfect regular season last year. But since Kansas refuses to schedule WSU, they can break that card out for this game.

Dayton-Oklahoma. Dayton in Columbus. Has any other 11 seed been given a better home court advantage in Tourney history? The Flyers have been the poster child for all that the Selection Committee gets wrong. Despite everyone thinking they were safely in, the Committee not only underseeded them, but declared them to be a “last four in” team. That meant the play-in game… on their home court. Then they get to go to one of the closest sites to minimize travel burdens. Staying in state and only a few hours from home. Errors compounding on errors.

I’d say Oklahoma has too much depth, talent, and is more rested than Dayton. But Dayton keeps defying all logic.

Iowa-Gonzaga. Iowa played one of their best games of the season against Davidson. Just don’t see them following that up with anything but a loss.

Oregon-Wisconsin. Dana Altman is having a good time in Omaha. Reminding a small but loud subset of Creighton fans who were complaining of him not winning enough, just how good a coach he is. Good times end tonight.

Hoopies-Maryland. Go Terps.

Northern Iowa-Louisville. 9:40 Eastern start time on a Sunday night? Well, at least it is on the West Coast.

Bleeping luck of the draw and match-ups in the Tourney. Hard to pick against Louisville. ACC solidarity be damned, I’m pulling for the Panthers.

]]>70Chashttp://www.pittblather.comhttp://www.pittblather.com/?p=198932015-03-21T12:26:08Z2015-03-21T12:21:39ZWoefully poor form of me not to acknowledge the Women’s Hoop team. They made the NCAA Tourney and play today at 11 am on ESPN3.com against Chattanooga. An amazing turnaround.

As for the other NCAA Tourney…

The day will start off with UCLA-UAB. That UCLA has such a chance to get to the Sweet 16 boggles my mind.

North Carolina-Arkansas. ACC solidatrity? I dunno. I don’t trust either of these teams when they aren’t playing on their home court.

Notre Dame-Butler. Both came dangerously close to being upset. I’m trusting recent history here, so it has to be Butler advancing.

]]>189Reedhttp://www.pittblather.com/?p=198762015-03-20T19:49:52Z2015-03-20T19:40:34ZHere are the digs from various media reports on Thursday’s practice.

Something that jumped out at me seems a small bit disturbing, but then I jerk myself back to reality by saying there is still months to go before the opener against YSU (better than last year we hope.) But we have heard from the minute that these players started working out in the weight room and running early morning drills couple weeks ago that this new staff ‘brought a whole new level of energy” to the table when it comes to interactions with the players. Yet this is the third practice in a row where I have heard or read about a PITT coach commenting on periods of lack of energy or emotion from the players themselves (see Narduzzi’s interview below.)

After practice #2 – “There was a lack of focus—tempo might have been a little bit faster.

After practice #3 – “It’s day three. The pads were on today and we started a little slow. The game of football is a game of emotion and you can’t come without that” The Trib’s blog headline: Pitt starts slow on first day with pads, but ends with `emotion’.

Hmmm, let’s hope it doesn’t continue into what the team was experiencing back in the latter part of the 2011 season under HC Beelzebub Graham when the players were mailing in their effort during the between-game practices. Of course, that is an exaggeration and these players are on the cusp of practicing under and learning from whole new set of coaches and trying to understand the new coaching philosophies being instituted, but I wanted to get another jab in at Graham… it makes me feel good when I’m down. Next week it will be different I’m sure, being in pads now will help. Now the coaches can tie raw meat to the walk-on’s belts and tell the scholarship guys to “Go get ‘em boys!!!”.

Here are the Post-Practice Video Interviews with three coaches and a player.

Video: Coach Pat Narduzzi on the first day of pads: “It’s day three. The pads were on today and we started a little slow. The game of football is a game of emotion and you can’t come without that. The word of the day today was `toughness’ because it was the first day of pads. We didn’t come out with any emotion but we finished with a lot of it. I’m really happy with where we are right now.”

On if he was surprised with the lack of emotion: “I don’t know. I just know that we finished strong. We have such good kids that I’m not sure if they knew what to expect. It’s a work in progress.”

On if the team is responding well to the coaches: “I think so, you’ll have to ask them, though. [the team] doesn’t give you any lip–we have really, really, really good kids. I’m so happy with the type of people we have here. They’re easy to coach and that makes a coach’s job easy.”

On how much contact they had in practice: “We did three live periods: full tackle, take them to the ground. Then probably three `thud’ periods, which is an aggressive thud where they try to stay up off of the ground. It went pretty good. You can’t tackle every day, and as a coach you’d love to, but you can’t.”

On if the intensity is going to increase leading up to the season: “I think so. We’ll just see how they take it. We came out healthy again today, have a day off, then hit Saturday hard.”

On receiver Dontez Ford in Thursday’s practice: “Dontez had a great catch today. I thought it was going to be a pick and he went over-top and took it away.”

On the offensive line: “Alex Officer is doing a great job at center right now. [Adam Bisnowaty always does a great job–he’s intelligent. Until you watch the tape from today you can’t really say anything.”

“It’s still early to tell. They’re still learning the language and process of a new offense. Today was an example of the first day in pads–it’s going to take a little time. It’s a high-quality group; they care and are working hard every day.”

On guard Alex Bookser: “Just like any young guy, he’s learning Coach [Jim] Chaney’s system. He’s tough and likes contact. There’s usually a guy who’s pretty close to him that he can put his hands on pretty quickly. He’s also a big body in there. He needs to clean up his footwork and understand how he fits in a little bit more.”

On versatility: “In the beginning you’re trying to develop a line early with guys who can be versatile. The more positions guys can learn, and understand the game, the more valuable they become.”

On if Artie Rowell will wear an orange jersey throughout spring practice: “Yes. He’s still in that no-contact rehab. He’s right in the middle of everything though: making calls and going through individual stuff. What he can contribute he does. He mentally takes reps every snap.”

Watch this entire next Rob Harley video interview as I think he’s signaling some intent as to personnel. The only thing I am surprised about is that he’s been mentioning Mike Caprara pretty often and did so during LOI Day also. Not taking anything away from Young Mr. Caprara but he wasn’t so much on my radar as MLB#2.

He also make a nice point that Galambos, Caprara, Wirginis and Folsom have gotten the ‘calls’ down quicker than expected. It sound like Harley is starting with Grigsby, Galambos and Bradley as starters so far.

“After three days, these guys are really mentally ahead of the schedule. I think these guys have played a lot of football. We have some savvy veterans that have played and been around the system. We’re playing a little bit more of a simpler defense and what they have to do is now master their fundamentals. That’s where those nuance situations come in with their techniques. As far as knowing where to be and knowing what to do, they are way far ahead of anywhere where I thought they would be by the third practice.

“Some of the stuff we’re seeing out there is very advanced. They’re running what we need them to run. Now we’re just needing to tweak the finer details of it and that’s just going to be from film as they get in here and watch.”

On how the defense is simpler: “We’re going to play what we play 80 percent of the time. We’re going to be in the same defense. There’s going to be some different things that we do depending on what the offense gives us, but we’re going to be in it 80 percent of the time. How we line up, and how our fundamentals are, so when those guys master the fundamentals, it’s now just about what the offense is doing. Our linebackers are going to be where they only can be in a handful of different alignments. It’s going to be one thing and we’re going to get really good at it.”

On returning starter Matt Galambos: “You want to see some leadership and that comes in so many different ways. I’m not the kind of guy who demands others to be vocal. As the mike linebacker, he’s the guy that gets us lined up and makes all the calls–that comes with its own leadership. If he can get that done, and command the defense, then I’ll be really happy.”

“I felt like I was just doing what I was supposed to do. Coach [Kevin] Sherman got on us a lot about catching the ball whenever we had someone trying to hit us, so that’s just what I was trying to do.

“I got the outside release and saw the corner go away. The safety was coming over to stop Chad [Voytik] so he threw the ball. At that point it was just going up to catch the ball. I caught it with two hands.

“It was supposed to be a deep ball right down the sideline, but the safety was going right over top. So [Voytik] just put it line-drive right between them. [Safety] Reggie [Mitchell] happened to get his hand on the ball, but he was playing smart: he didn’t want to hit me out of the air. You don’t want to do that to your teammate. I just happened to snatch it right before he could.”

On if he has a lot to prove this spring: “I feel like I do. I didn’t put up the numbers last year like I could have. So this year, I feel like I need to come out and do well this spring and let that carry over into camp.”

On what he did well last season: “My physicality helped me a lot: being able to catch the ball and trap it, making key blocks. That stuff helps you whenever the pass game comes along.”

On if he feels comfortable after the 2012 transfer from Syracuse: “Definitely a lot more comfortable. Now I’m learning a lot more about the game. At Syracuse I only really played defensive back. The last staff put a lot of knowledge in me about the receiver position and this staff is doing well, too. I’m taking what I learned in the meeting room and putting it on the field.”

Speaking of the wide receivers, Sam Werner of the PG has this tidbit: “Not only him, just the whole offense, just in general,” said receivers coach Kevin Sherman. “The more guys we can have to be productive, the more defenses have to worry about a tailback, have to worry about two receivers and the quarterback, as well, [the better]. We’re looking for a consistent group of guys who can help us go out each Saturday, compete and play at a high level, and be productive.”

Among players in the running to help Boyd are sophomore Jester Weah, freshman Elijah Zeise, junior Chris Wuestner and sophomore Zach Challingsworth.

You know the more I look at that group of kids and remembering how they showed what they could do in past practices and camps I’ve a feeling we are going to get more productivity out of the WR2 spot then we have though. The question is will there be any real threat opposite Boyd to peel of that second defender when he’s getting double coverage?

If we don’t have that then I say get the best possession receiver we have, a la Mike Shanahan, at that position and work the ball down field that way and then ‘cry havoc let slip the TE of war‘! Chryst and staff wasted their talents for three years. Granted the OL needed a lot of help but our offense needs all the ball targets we can put out there. That recent quote by TE Scott Orndoff said it best when he was asked if OC Jim Cheney will use the his position more in the passing game: “Let’s hope. I don’t want to be another tackle like we were last year.”

On a side note, in the midst of the spring practices, new staff, new atmosphere the P-G comes in with a short article on Dontez Ford and then posts a much longer article about basketball news. It is a nice article and granted it wasn’t written by the PITT beat writer but with the P-G PITT football blog two days old and that small piece about a 2nd string player you would think they could find room for more relevant PITT football issues.

I’m planning on driving up to the Southside to put eyes on the kids tomorrow but I’m wavering a bit because the Saturday practice was moved forward from 10:00 am to 9:30. That means a departure time of no later than 4:30 am if I want to be sure to be on time. Add to that the media will have only 25 minutes on the sideline and it isn’t too attractive. However, my best friend is throwing a 90th birthday party for his Mom and her daughter is an old girlfriend of mine, so I’ll do it I’m sure.

Add any legit questions you want me to ask the interviewees to your comments and if I have a chance I’ll try to get some answers. Personally, I’d like to ask Coach Cheney what the plans for Jaymar Parrish are.

]]>35Chashttp://www.pittblather.comhttp://www.pittblather.com/?p=198772015-03-20T10:56:47Z2015-03-20T10:56:47ZWell that first day was predictably bananas.

Then there was Baylor blowing a huge lead against Georgia State. Creating an all-time moment at the buzzer. Both for the shot by R.J. Hunter and Head Coach/Dad Ron Hunter.

I can’t tell you how many times I keep watching that.

Matt Painter pulled a Jamie Dixon overcoaching special in the final seconds, which fails. Leading to overtime and Purdue falling to Cinci for the right to lose to Kentucky.

Then there was the 8-9 game between two talented, but — trying to be kind here — mercurial, teams in NC State and LSU. These two teams make me irrationally angry. Undeniable talent and athleticism all over the place. Poor coaching and no consistency are just as obvious.

In the end, the team that lost to Auburn in the SEC Tournament created an epic collapse to the team that lost by 16 to Boston College late in the season. Sixteen point halftime lead. Six straight missed free throws in final minutes. Unable to make a field goal in the final 10+ minutes — 0-12.

NC State is fully capable of knocking off Villanova. Or lose by about 15.

Hopefully today will be just as bonkers.

]]>45Chashttp://www.pittblather.comhttp://www.pittblather.com/?p=198732015-03-19T04:03:21Z2015-03-19T04:03:21Z*THIS POST IS SPONSORED BY SLINGBOX*

I’m trying something new. Both in the technology and in the post. As you can tell by the disclaimer above, this is an endorsement/ad post.

I’ve reached the point in life where I can’t just take vacation or sick days to watch the first two days of NCAA Tournament basketball. With a wife and kids I am not allowed to be so selfish as to “waste” time off just watching games all day. No. Those days have to be preserved for family.

It’s one of those gadgets I’ve always wanted. When they first came out, they were better in idea than in reality. Lots of configuration. Lots of work to get it just right.

Now, it is almost plug-and-play.

I picked up a Slingbox M1 this past weekend and plugged it in to my DirecTV box — all the cables are included. Then it was a download of the app to my phone and tablet. And a different app on my laptop. A few minutes to register and configure the settings and it was ready to go.

I’ve been testing it the last couple days at work and in other places. It streams remarkably smoothly on my tablet and laptop when connected to wi-fi. On my cell phone, though, when I have to rely on the cell connection it has been a very pleasant surprise.

Slingbox gives me full access to the DVR in addition to all my channels. Anything saved on my DVR I can watch right on the tablet or phone. It even plays well with my Amazon Fire TV stick.

Obviously, the main attraction is live sports. No issues with blackouts — which I’ve hit a few times with WatchESPN — when I couldn’t be home to watch a game.

The crush tomorrow to watch the NCAA Tourney on a stream from CBS is a bit dodgy at times with the sheer crush of people trying to watch. That isn’t a problem when I’m streaming it from my own TV.

Please take a minute to checkout some more info about the Slingbox (and help me justify one more gadget to my wife). They are even doing a “Madness Cubed” contest to give away a comfy chair for your office, a Slingbox 500, and an party meal for your entire office. 68 runners-up get a Slingbox M1

]]>54Reedhttp://www.pittblather.com/?p=198472015-03-20T12:56:54Z2015-03-18T19:37:55ZPitt Spring Practice #2 is in the books and here are some links and quotes to get the fan blood running.

One common theme we are hearing from the players is that these practice sessions are more “energetic” than the ones under Paul Chryst… “As a whole, it’s extremely energetic. The way they approach practice, lifting, is different. Not to say that our last staff didn’t bring energy, this is just a whole different level”. I think that is great although I am a bit wary of too much ‘pumping up’ of players (or workers or students, etc…) in preparation for something because the more you try to infuse that higher level of energy and attention the more susceptible you are of seeming phony and losing your target’s trust.

Let’s hope that things go as planned and the team plays with some extra spring in their step. At points last year it looked as if they might have been going thru the motions as we were losing the game. A fresh start all around in the name of the game this year and with it comes new approaches.

After two practices of a scheduled 15-session spring, Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi has a lot of work to do and decisions to make. Some won’t be finalized until August, and maybe not even then.

But Dontez Ford and Zach Challingsworth are stepping up as the wide receivers lining up opposite Tyler Boyd with the first team. Don’t read too much into it, but it’s worth noting. “Those are the two guys I have to rely on to free me up out of double coverage,” Boyd said. At least in the spring.

On defense, coordinator Josh Conklin likes what he has seen from safety Reggie Mitchell and cornerbacks Avonte Maddox, Malik Henderson and Phillipie Motley.
Mitchell, a junior, can play both positions. Henderson is an early-enrollee freshman and Motley was redshirted last year during his freshman season.

Conklin said he was impressed with how three-year starting cornerback Lafayette Pitts, a senior, stayed after practice Tuesday to work with some wide receivers on his footwork at the line of scrimmage.

“Those are the things you want to see from that kid,” Conklin said. “He has a lot of experience. We are challenging him every day to come out and be consistent. The corners can’t hide. What we ask them to do, every rep they have to be on.”
What’s interesting to note is that Jordan Whitehead arrives from Central Valley this summer, and will add to the competition at cornerback. Maybe there actually will be some depth in the secondary.

Sam Werner, Post-Gazette posted another article on Voytik and you may wonder if it is a coincidence that the two local beat writers write about the same subject. It isn’t; they are responding to player and coach interviews (see below) for their subject matter.

Here a great paragraph from Werner’s article that might make a very big difference in Voytik’s play in 2015: Fortunately for Voytik, Chaney has some experience working with shorter quarterbacks (Voytik is listed generously at 6 feet 1 on Pitt’s official roster). He spent four years as Purdue’s offensive coordinator when Drew Brees, the prototype for diminutive quarterbacks, was the starter.

We saw time and again him having to scramble around to find a throwing lane behind the big OL kids we have out there. With Cheney’s experience and teachings Voytik and the OL may be able to learn to minimize that hesitation and movement. One thing that has impressed me with Brees is how well he could stand in the pocket and slide one way or another almost effortlessly, to get that line of sight. Interesting stuff! (Note: you guys didn’t really believe me last year when I said there was no way Voytik was 6’1”. I’d say even giving him 6’ is a real stretch.)

“So far, so good. We have a lot of things to clean up. There was a lack of focus—tempo might have been a little bit faster. We made progress from practice one to practice two. You’re looking for attitude and effort on the field. In the classroom, you’re looking for attention and their focus to detail.”

On if there’s an adjustment period for the players:

“I think so. The first practice we had there was an adjustment and today was a little bit better. We still have a way to go. I don’t know what it was like before, I just know what we like to do. It’s either an adjustment or something they have to figure out.”

On watching tape from the initial practice:

“We have to have better motors all of the time. Our guys will figure that out because it’s a habit. People are creatures of habit and what they have done before—we need to break that [habit] so we can make them do what we want them to do.”

Defensive Coordinator Josh Conklin on the defensive players so far:

“I know they’ll come to work, which is a good thing. We challenged them pretty hard today. They need to understand how we operate, function and levels of expectation during practice. That wasn’t the expectation on Sunday so we changed that today. I feel like the energy is good and it’s just going to be a learning process. I like their work ethic. If we continue to do these things we’ll fit the pieces of the puzzle together to put a good product out there on the field.

“Sometimes they don’t really understand how to get to the ball and that’s just a habit. Getting that trained is a big deal. We’re going to get them to run to the football and put the effort where we want to. We have a great staff, so the fundamentals of technique will be coached up. The energy and tenacity that we want to play with, has to happen and has to happen quickly.”

On the role of the linebackers:

“I think the nature of the defense, and what Coach Narduzzi had done previously, is that everything is tied in so well. It’s an attack at the front along with an attack with the linebackers. Ninety-five percent of the time we want the linebackers focused on the run—‘Stop the run.’ They have to be physical and they’re doing a great job.”

“Yes, for sure. I have to go out there every day with this type of mentality. It’s what I love to do—just go out there with a smile on my face and do my job.”

On the attitude the coaching staff has brought to the practices:

“It changed the whole environment, atmosphere, and practice tempo.”

On if the players respond to this energy:

“The players are going to feed off of each other but if they see the coaches pumped up as well, then it’s going to be even more explosive. When you go out there and see the coaches pumped up and trying to get you to play at the best of your ability, then you know that the practice style is going to go way better.”

On being a student of the game:

“Even if [Coach Jim Chaney] didn’t tell me, I knew I had to be more of a student to the game. Not even just to myself, but to other young players to mature within the system.”

On Offensive Coordinator Jim Chaney:

“He’s a really cool and laidback guy. He knows everything that he’s talking about; he’s an intelligent guy. So learning and scheming off of him will improve my game.”

Running Back James Conner on his mindset going into practice with a new coaching staff:

“My mindset is like I am a freshman again. I try to make a point to everyone and gain respect from everyone: my teammates and coaches. I just stay grounded.”

On if Coach Narduzzi spoke with him about taking a leadership role:

“He hasn’t brought [Tyler Boyd and me] into his office and give us that specific talk but there’s a vibe. Tyler and I know that we’re leaders and that it’s our job.”

On what he’s doing to become a leader:

“Lead by example. I have a lot of young guys asking me running back specific questions. I’m just trying to share knowledge and lead by example.”

On if he feels pressure to repeat his success:

“Somewhat. But my mindset is just like I’m a freshman, trying to earn a starting job. I never want to be satisfied.”

Offensive Guard Alex Bookser, who redshirted as a freshman last season, on transitioning from high school to collegiate play:

“I changed my body and tried to lose my high school fat. I don’t know if I did that to the best of my ability, but I tried as hard as I could. Coming into this season, I told Coach Narduzzi that I would play any position that he wanted me to play. They have me at guard right now so I am embracing that as much as I can.

On playing guard:

“I feel like I’ve done everything that I can so far. I’ve been watching film a decent amount and I really haven’t played guard. It’s a newer position for me so there is still a lot of technique I need to get down.”

On his physical progress from a year ago:

“I feel a lot stronger. Even just my footwork and the right and strong steps I need to take.”

On if he’s built to play guard or tackle:

“I always thought I was a defensive lineman. (Laughs) I don’t know. It’s not up to me when it comes down to it. If they want me to play tackle, I will. If they want me to play guard, I will. It’s just about me getting on the field, not about where it is.”

On the players’ reaction to the coaches’ new tempo:

“As a whole, it’s extremely energetic. The way they approach practice, lifting, is different. Not to say that our last staff didn’t bring energy, this is just a whole different level.”

(Disclaimer: In these ‘In-Between’ articles I get the official PITT press release from the PITT Media Dept. and modify it by adding and subtracting stuff here and there. So some text is borrowed and some is original.)